What is a settlement conference, and can a Parenting Plan that has been agreed upon between a Petitioner and Respondent be signed at this time?

A settlement conference is a formal meeting between the parties to a court case and a neutral third party (such as a judge, retired judge, or attorney not otherwise involved in the case), during which the parties try to settle, or reach an agreement, about all of the legal issues in their case.  Some counties require parties to family law cases to have a settlement conference before going to trial.  Some counties have programs to provide family law settlement conferences available free of charge.


The Court Directory page of the Washington Courts Web site lists contact information for courts in Washington State.


Additional legal resources are available from the following Web sites:


See also:  Answer ID : Legal questions.



RN id: 1289